The Essential George Gershwin

2 CDs of Gershwin's greatest compositions, sung and played by the preeminent artists in the Columbia vaults! Includes Swanee Al Jolson; Someone to Watch over Me Frank Sinatra; Summertime Billie Holiday; Soon Dorothy Kirsten; Let's Call the Whole Thing Off Fred Astaire; But Not for Me Doris Day; I've Got a Crush on You Ella Fitzgerald; Of Thee I Sing Hi-Lo's; Prelude No. 2 played by Gershwin himself, and more. 41 strokes of genius! .com ---- Given his seemingly effortless ability at melding such disparate forms as jazz and gospel with his own rare melodic gifts, it's not hard to view George Gershwin as America's first classical crossover artist. But as this glorious, 41-track double-disc introduction to Gershwin's epochal repertoire quickly demonstrates, that assessment woefully shortchanges the sheer grandeur of "Rhapsody in Blue" or the sultry earthiness of "Summertime." Singer and pop musicologist Michael Feinstein ( /exec/obidos/ts/artist-glance/72883/${0} ) produced the set (as well as contributing a new of "Home Blues"), and under his guidance it understandably leans toward Gershwin's remarkable body of songcraft, though it also includes more concert-oriented pieces such as the "Rhapsody" and "Prelude No. 2," both in original performances by the composer. But Feinstein's loving sense of American pop song history insures that the performances here are both inspired and enlightening. Indeed, his choices represent not only a who's who of 20th-century pop and saloon singers--spanning a rich pantheon that includes Jolson, Kelly, Astaire, Holliday, Sinatra, Bennett, Waters, Torme, Clooney, Day, Vaughan, and Fitzgerald--but deftly underscore Gershwin's transcendent synthesis of style, era, and distinctly American subject matter. Also includes a written tribute by modern songwriter Diane Warren and an essay by Pulitzer Prize winner Tim Page. -–Jerry McCulley

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